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chubbychu
07-19-2003, 11:35 AM
Hello everyone. Im fairly new to "wiring" electronics to the car and just have a couple questions that confuse me. I did a couple searches on leds and wiring but none really explaning how to "hardwire" im guessing everyone is supposed to know how to do it. ANYWAYS onto the questions

1)When putting in LEDS around various places in the car (ie. Rear cupholder, underseats, in back) where do you get the power to light them?
2)How does "tapping" from the fuse box work? and is it dangerous? can you just stick the 2 wires of a led into a fuse and have it work?
3)where do resistors and little things like that come into play?

THANKS!

Your friendly friend- Michael!

Brettnyt
07-19-2003, 12:04 PM
Originally posted by plainol2k2si

1)When putting in LEDS around various places in the car (ie. Rear cupholder, underseats, in back) where do you get the power to light them?


(sigh of relief) I thought I was the only one who didnt know that stuff...

chubbychu
07-19-2003, 04:37 PM
also...i was shopping for leds and stuff and there are a lot of different power ratings and OHM ages....while your explaining the above...could you tell me about power and stuff like that too THANKS!

chubbychu
07-19-2003, 06:51 PM
nobody?

Si4U2NV
07-19-2003, 07:00 PM
i taught myself all that, but you guyz myte find this website helpful... ENJOY! care of ME!

http://www.the12volt.com

-Mike;)

Brettnyt
07-19-2003, 07:31 PM
Originally posted by Si4U2NV
i taught myself all that, but you guyz myte find this website helpful... ENJOY! care of ME!

http://www.the12volt.com

-Mike;)

err... call me stupid but where is the wiring info? I couldnt get the link to work so i triend 12volt.com (with no "the") and it worked, but i dunno where the wiring info is...

chubbychu
07-19-2003, 09:29 PM
the link provided works....and so far it looks pretty useful

i wish someone would just make things easier and straight out tell us....but...wheres the fun in that right? lol

Brettnyt
07-19-2003, 09:44 PM
Originally posted by plainol2k2si
i wish someone would just make things easier and straight out tell us

Ah, dont we all... I feel so stupid, i just wanna know how to wire a quick lil LED...

jandetuning
07-19-2003, 10:04 PM
Maybe this will help:

Led Wiring (http://www.k-series.com/tech_detail.php?Tech_ID=EP_CON_LITE_SWAP)

chubbychu
07-20-2003, 09:10 PM
not...reallly......:::sigh:::

ive gathered that you need to find how much power the source is running and than you have to find how strong the led is and than you have to get a resistor to stop all the power going to the led
right?

jandetuning
07-20-2003, 09:59 PM
Without being there to assist you on the install, I cannot take voltage measurements at the LED, so I will try to help you with an approximate value for the resistors. If you have one LED connected to a 12 volt source, you will need between a 330 ohm and a 470 ohm resistor. I would assume a 330 ohm resistor for a high brightness LED, and 470 ohms for a standard one. Depending on how many LEDs you need for a particular location, you may be able to wire 3-6 of them in series so no resistor would be necessary. The resistor simply drops enough voltage to get the LED within it's operating range, which is between 2.1 to 4.0 volts depending on the type of LED.

To make it easier, If you have an electronics supply house in your area, they should be able to supply you with 12 volt LEDs.

ta2dSi
07-20-2003, 11:54 PM
check out my post, on my underdash lighting, and I have pictures of the wire that you need to get the power from.

The way I have it set up is that when the ignition key is in the ON position, there is power going to the LED's

My next install will be for the back seat and surrounding area, and using the dome light for the power source, so when I unlock the car, the lights will come on.

You can only wire an LED one way, since I diode only lets current flow in one direction, so if you wire it up wrong, there will be no light. pretty cut and dry.

LED's and other electronic components are pretty easy for me, I went to school for the Navy for 3 years to learn it and also troubleshooting skills.

If you have anyquestions, e-mail me. or PM me, and I will get on the case.